1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to travel trailers and in particular relates to travel trailers that are adapted to expand in size so as to increase the effective interior area of the travel trailer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recreational travel trailers are becoming increasingly popular with people who wish to retain the comforts and conveniences of home while spending extended periods of time away at remote locations. In particular, a recreational travel trailer is a modestly priced mobile structure which can be towed behind a passenger vehicle, such as a truck, and forms an enclosed interior living space so as to provide a shelter for individuals. In more elaborate configurations, the travel trailer typically includes amenities such as a bedroom, a bathroom with a sink and a flushing toilet, a kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, and sink, and a generously sized living area with reclining chairs and an entertainment center. Furthermore, a travel trailer can be easily parked at a wide variety of locations so that users can enjoy the amenities of the travel trailer at their favorite destination. Consequently, people who use travel trailers can usually be assured of a comfortable living environment at their preferred destination without having to rely on the availability of suitable hotels.
In response to consumer demand, manufactures of travel trailers have developed increasingly larger travel trailers. However, state and federal laws limit the dimensions of travel trailers that can be transported on public roads, thereby limiting the living space within the travel trailer. In particular, current regulations specify a maximum length, otherwise known as the maximum allowed length, of highway bound travel trailers to be no greater than 40 feet. Furthermore, current regulations specify a maximum width, otherwise known as the maximum allowed width, of highway bound travel trailers to be no greater than 8.5 feet. Thus, the travel trailer industry has devoted considerable resources to develop improved travel trailers so as to increase the living space of the travel trailer in a manner that is consistent with the forgoing size restrictions.
Consequently, manufacturers have developed travel trailers with one or more extendable members that provide the user with a supplemental living space when the travel trailer is parked. In particular, the extendable member is adapted to extend into a deployed configuration during the time that the travel trailer is parked so that the living space within the travel trailer is increased by an amount which is substantially equal to the supplemental living space of the extendable member. Furthermore, the extendable member is adapted to retract into a retracted configuration during the time that the travel trailer is being towed so that the traveling dimensions of the travel trailer are within the maximum allowed width and length.
The typical extendable member is positioned within an opening of the housing of the travel trailer and is comprised of a plurality of walls that form the supplemental living space therein and an opening that provides access to the supplemental living space. In particular, the walls of the typical extendable member are comprised of a lower horizontal wall that forms a single level planer floor which substantially aligns with an adjacent floor of the travel trailer and an upper horizontal wall that forms a single level planer ceiling which substantially aligns with an adjacent ceiling of the travel trailer. Furthermore, the extendable member is comprised of an outer vertical wall that is adapted to align with an outer wall of the travel trailer while the extendable member is placed in the retracted configuration, and a pair of horizontal side walls that join the upper and lower horizontal walls and the outer vertical wall together.
According to state of the prior art, the known extendable member is typically mounted on a pair of movable support rail assemblies which are positioned at a common elevation so as to provide movement of the extendable member with respect to the travel trailer. In particular, each support rail assembly is typically comprised of a fixed member which is fixedly attached to the frame of the travel trailer and a sliding member which telescopes from the fixed member and couples with the extendable member so that the extendable member moves with the sliding member of each support rail assembly. Furthermore, the sliding member of each of the support rail assemblies is displaced with respect to the fixed member by an actuator assembly that typically comprises either an electrically powered linear rack and pinion drive mechanism or a hydraulic assembly which moves each of the sliding members so that the extendable member remains in an aligned state with respect to the travel trailer during the movement process. Moreover, the actuator assembly typically further includes push button control so that the user can conveniently place the extendable member in either the retracted or the deployed configuration.
Such an extendable member, when in the retracted configuration, is positioned so that the outer vertical wall aligns with the side wall of the travel trailer and so that the remaining walls, including the lower horizontal wall, of the extendable member are positioned within the interior living space of the travel trailer. Consequently, in the retracted configuration, the housing of the travel trailer forms a more aerodynamic shape having a width and length that are within the maximum allowed width and length.
However, when the extendable member is placed into the deployed configuration, the extendable member extends from the travel trailer so that the walls of the extendable member extend from the opening of the housing of the travel trailer so as to align the opening of the extendable member with the opening of the side wall of the travel trailer. Consequently, the floor of the extendable member extends through the opening of the housing so that the effective living area of the travel trailer is increased. Furthermore, the walls of the extendable member effectively become exterior walls of the travel trailer so that the interior living space of the travel trailer remains enclosed.
Typically, the largest variety of travel trailers, otherwise known as fifth wheel travel trailers, are manufactured so that the weight of the trailer is partially supported by a plurality of wheels that extend from a chassis of the trailer and partially supported at the front by the towing vehicle. In particular, such travel trailers are comprised of a raised front section that is adapted to substantially extend over a supporting portion of the towing vehicle and a lowered rear section that is positioned above the plurality of wheels of the travel trailer. Furthermore, such travel trailers may further be comprised of a midsection that encloses a portion of a plumbing assembly which includes a fresh water storage tank and a waste water storage tank. Thus, typical fifth wheel travel trailers are typically formed with multiple levels which often include a rear section having a lowered floor area, a front section having a raised floor area, and a middle section having an intermediately elevated floor area.
In the typical fifth wheel travel trailer, the living space is typically segmented along the boundaries between the lower, middle, and upper sections of the travel trailer. In particular, since the rear section is closest to the ground and since the rear section is the largest of the three sections, the rear section typically comprises the living room and kitchen that are both accessible from the outside by an entry door positioned along a side wall of the housing of the travel trailer that opens into the lower level. Furthermore, since the middle section often comprises the plumbing assembly, the middle section often comprises the bathroom. Moreover, since the front section has the least amount of headroom and is the most remote of all three sections, the front section often comprises the bedroom.
In known fifth wheel travel trailers having extendable members, the extendable members are somewhat limited in that they extend from only a single section of the travel trailer. In particular, known extendable members extend from either the rear section, the midsection, or the front section of the trailer. For example, the typical extendable travel trailer is comprised of a first extendable member having a single level floor that extends from a first opening in the side wall of the travel trailer in the vicinity of the rear section so as to increase the size of the living room. Further, the typical trailer also includes a second extendable member having a single level floor that extends from a second opening of the side wall of the travel trailer in the vicinity of the front section so as to increase the size of the bedroom.
Although such recreational travel trailers provide a significant increase in living space, the increase is not as great as it could be. In particular, since the known extendable member can only extend from a single level floor of the recreational travel trailer, the width of the known extendable member is limited by the dimensions of the corresponding trailer section. Consequently, such extendable members provide a supplemental living space that is sometimes relatively narrow in size, thereby preventing relatively large items from being positioned within the extendable member. For example, although the second extendable member from the aforementioned example enables a bed to be mounted within the supplemental living space formed therein, it is not capable of including the bathroom along with the bed due to the limited size of the front section of the travel trailer and due to the inability of known extendable members to encompass multiple floor levels. Furthermore, since structural limitations require adjacent extendable members to be spaced sufficiently far apart, it is generally not feasible to position extendable members adjacent to each other, wherein the extendable members extend from both the middle and front sections of the travel trailer. Thus, it is generally not feasible to position both the bathroom and the bedroom in one or more extendable members of the travel trailer. Consequently, either the middle section or the front section of the known travel trailer is not fully utilized.
Although special purpose commercial grade mobile structures have been developed with extendable members having multiple floor levels, such known commercial structures utilize elaborate and expensive actuator assemblies for manipulating the extendable member between the retracted configuration and the deployed configuration. In particular, in the Applicants previous design of a commercial grade movable concession booth having a multilevel extendable member that forms a supplemental space therein, the actuator assembly comprises an elaborate system of cables that engage with an elaborate system of pulleys in a relatively complicated manner so as to effectively move the relatively large multilevel extending member between the retracted configuration and the deployed configuration. However, since the fabrication of such known actuator assemblies require a substantial amount of manual effort and materials, the implementation of such known multilevel extendable members in the recreational travel trailer industry is generally prohibited due to the high costs involved.
Another problem associated with known travel trailers having extendable members is that the furnishings that attach to the extendable members are somewhat limited in size. For example, it is usually not practical to include a laterally positioned wardrobe having a substantially elongated shape as part of the extendable member. In particular, due to the extended length of the wardrobe and the limited space within the travel trailer, the wardrobe may inhibit the extendable member from being placed in the retracted configuration. Furthermore, even if it is possible for such an extendable member to be placed in the retracted configuration, it is likely that the wardrobe will limit access to the interior regions of the travel trailer. Consequently, it is often the case that the wardrobe must be fixedly positioned to a front region of the bedroom, thereby limiting the space within the bedroom.
From the foregoing, therefore, it will be appreciated that there is a need for an improved travel trailer that can be configured with a living space that is greater than that of travel trailers known in the art. In particular, there is a need for an improved travel trailer that comprises an improved extendable member that can be manipulated between a retracted configuration and a deployed configuration so that the extendable member encompasses multiple sections of the travel trailer so as to increase of the width of the extendable member over that of extendable members known in the art. To this end, there is a need for the improved extendable member to include a multilevel floor so as to enable the extendable member to encompass multiple sections of the travel trailer which could include a bathroom and a bedroom in tandem.
Furthermore, there is a need for the improved extendable member to include an actuator assembly that is capable of moving the extendable member between the retracted and the deployed configurations in a manner that does not result in the extendable member becoming immobilized due to improper alignment between the extendable member and the travel trailer. Moreover, there is a need for the actuator assembly to be relatively simple so that it can be manufactured in a cost effective manner. Additionally, there is a need for the improved extendable member to include a configurable wardrobe having an elongated shape in an extended configuration and a non-elongated shape in a retracted configuration so that the wardrobe can be laterally positioned in the bathroom region of the improved extendable member of the travel trailer in a non-interfering manner so as to free up space in the bedroom.